The present invention relates to structural systems, and in particular to apparatus for interconnecting wall, furniture, shelf, or other structural panels.
A wide variety of structural systems have been developed to support structural panels for the construction of walls or furniture. Some of these systems are intended to be permanent, while others can be disassembled easily and can be used for temporary structures. The design of such structural systems involves a difficult compromise between aesthetic appeal and necessary structural rigidity. Several of these structural systems employ a large number of bolts and other connecting elements which provide the necessary rigidity but are aesthetically unappealing. In other systems the rigidity of the structure is sacrificed for appearance. In still others rigidity is maintained with an aesthetically appealing structure only by using various cover members over the basic structural system, and thus the structure is quite complex.
One structural system directed to these difficulties is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,371 which sets forth apparatus for constructing a skeletal framework adapted to support wall, furniture or other structural panels. While it is an improvement over prior art systems it has several shortcomings. Structural panels placed in recesses in the structural framework may not be secured with sufficient rigidity. If frame elements are secured to the panel edges in advance, instead of forming a structural framework first, it may be difficult to determine which panel edges should have elements attached to them. The various flanges on the elements which define recesses for receiving panel edges may be aesthetically unappealing to some individuals.